5. Jay Williams — 2002–2003 season
Jay Williams is well known today as an ESPN personality covering the NBA and college basketball. But there once was a time when he emerged as one of the most promising guards for the Bulls over the 2000s.
The Bulls drafted Williams as the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. The Bulls had several capable scorers on the roster like Jalen Rose, but they still needed an on-ball point guard to help facilitate the offense. This is a team that finished 28th in points per game in the previous campaign with an 89.5 average.
Williams came in with high expectations and met some of the initial hype. He averaged 9.5 points per game and 4.7 assists per game while totaling for 75 games played over his rookie season. The point guard had a couple of strong showings and gave hope to Bulls fans on the team’s near future. For instance, he posted a 26 points, 13 assists and 14 rebounds triple-double in an early-season duel against Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets.
He earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors for the season.
Unfortunately, this would be all that the Bulls would see of Williams on their court. He was involved in a motorcycle accident over the off-season that left him with multiple career-altering injuries, which then forced him to retire from the NBA after just one season.